Drilling machine for shank button blanks



Nov. 18,4 1952 I w. J. WITTE 2,618,181

- DRILLING MACHINE FOR SHANK BUTTON BLANKS Filed Dec. 5, 1949 l 2 SI-IEETs-sI-IEET 1 23S F1 59 56 I0 6 sa. 63626l o Nov. 18, 1952 w. J. wlTTE K i 2,618,181

l DRILLING MACHINE FOR SHANK BUTTON BLANKS Filed Dec. s, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 :inventor WILLIAM J.W|TTE Patented Nov. 18, 1952 DRILLING MACHINE FOR SHANK BUTTON BLANKS William J. -`Witte, New-Brunswick, N. J.

Application December 5, 1949, Serial'No. 131,085

1 Claim. 1 l.

The object 'of the invention is to provide improvements in drilling imachines, but more particularly in machines designed for drillingr 'the thread-'receiving holes in the' shanks of the blanks from which shank buttons are made.

Another vobject is to 'provide a machine that is completely automatic in its operation, and 'in which all parts that function directly with respect to the button blanks are adjustable in every necessary or desirable manner.

A further object is to provide in such a imachine a pair of oppositely `lfunctioning drill holders, whose positions can be adjusted independently about Vertical axes; that can be so adjusted that the paths of movement .of the drills'they operatively support are thereby adjusted longitudinally; that the respective paths of operation of said drill holders rare adjustable front vto rear and vice versa, depending upon the length of the shank of a given blank; and that can be adjusted vertically to shift their longitudinal axes correspondingly; all of these adjustments being to adapt 'the machine to blanks of various Asizes and shapes.

Still another object iis to provide means for varying lthe vertical position of 'a blank when in operative Vposition for being drilled, to allow for differences in thickness and diameter of the blanks; to provide adjustable guide Ymeans for adapting the machine to blanks of different widths as they fall by .gravity towards the drilling position and the holding or securing means; to provide a blank holder that has an adjustable longitudinal movement to account for, blanks of diierent thicknesses, and :at the same time to provide for positively ejecting the blank from said holding means when the drilling operation has beenfc'ornpleted; and to provide a lag in the operation of a pair or opposed drills in orderthat there will be no interferencer during their vrespective operations, which are usually in aligninent with substantially the same axis, or ifnot in exact alignment that they will not come into engageme'nt'with each other at the point of intersection of vtheir axes, which is in the center of the shank of a button blank.

With the objects thus briefly set forth, 'the invention comprises further details 'of construction and operation, which are hereinafter 'fully brought 'out in the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a plan view of a machine that comprises one embodiment of the invention, showing the right hand drill in operative or drilling position, it lbeing understood 'that reference to the left and' right hand sides of the machine is as Viewed from the front or operators position; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of' the same; Fig. 3 is a vertical section substantially on the line 3--3 of Fig. `1 showing the cams upon the vunder side of the vmachine bed; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a rear elevational vieW of the machine; Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is "a partly sectional view taken on the line 'l--l of 2, showing the adjustable mounting and meansffor altering Athe angular position of 'a drill holder abo-ut a vertical axis; Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. '7 but showing'the longitudinal axis of rotation of a drill holder angularly onset from the Fig. '7 position; yand Fig. 9 `is a perspective view of the blank-positioning member per Se.

Referring to the drawings, it will be understood that the improved drilling machine l:may rest upon the floor by means of high legs or other suitable support, but is here shown as comprising a bench model, that consists of a body or table portion l, 'supported by depending legs 2 from each of its corners. Depending integrally from the ends of said `body are flanges 3, connected at the 'corresponding 'end portions by similarly depending front and rear flanges .4. Through the forward portions of the 'two end flanges rotatably extends a drive shaft 5, that carries a pulley 6 which is connected by a belt 'l to a pulley 8, that is carried and driven by a suitable motor 9, orby any other suitable source of power.

The opposite end portions of the machine body are provided with slightly raised platforms Ill, to which are adjustably secured the base portions ll of 'drill-supporting columns l2, that are threaded vto receive vertically spaced, correspondingly threaded collars I3, 4between and in engagement with which are positioned vertically spaced bosses i4, that surround said columns and are carried by and extend from the rear sides of tool-supporting heads l5. Between each pair of said bosses I4 is positioned the curved central portion of a yoke I6, that is normally fixedly secured to an adjacent column by means .of bolts l'l, and which yokes are provided with generally oppositely extending arms i8, through which are adjustably positioned set screws or bolts I9, that bear directly against the respectively adjacent heads upon the opposite sides of the intervening column, for angularly adjusting the longitudinal axis of the respective drills (see Figs. 7 and 8) Through each such drill head extends a shaft 2H, carrying upon its outer free end a pulley 2|,

that is connected by a belt 22 with a larger pulley 23 carried by the drive shaft 5, while the inner ends of said drill shafts detachably support replacable drills 24. With this form of mounting, each of the drills can be readily adjusted to rotate upon aligned axes, or upon axes that are angularly disposed with respect to each other, while the relative positions of said drill heads are determined by the positions of the base portions of said drill supports upon the respective platforms I8. In order to deflect either or both of said drills out of axial alignment, one or the other of the set screws I1 upon each drill supporting assembly may be loosened, and after manually shifting the drills axes, both of the set screws f each pair are tightened to hold the drill-supporting heads in adjusted position. Fine adjustment may be obtained by loosening one 4 other worm 53 is in mesh with and revolves a worm wheel 54, that drives a second, transversely positioned countershaft 55, which like the countershaft 46' is journaled through bearings carried by the forward and rearward body fianges, and is provided upon its forward end with a. disc 56 having a, cam surface 51. Against said last mentioned cam surface is pressed an anti-friction roller 58, carried by one end of a lever 59 that is pivotallycarried by a bracket 60, mounted upon the frontal body fiange 4 and provided upon its opposite end with a set screw 6|, which is maintained in predetermined adjustable position by the usual lock nut, and which engages one end of a second lever 62 that is pivotally carried 'by a bracket 63 also on the body flange 4, and

. the opposite end of said second lever being pivotscrew of a pair, and then tightening the other of the same pair to delicately turn the drills axis to the proper angular direction, after which the rst screwof the pair is again tightened to securethe drill head in predetermined fixed position.

Secured to the upper surface of said body and substantially centrally between its opposite endsv is a blank-supporting standard 25. This standard is provided withga vertically extending aperture, in'which is vertically movable a block 26 that is substantially U-Shaped in horizontal plan, with its forward surface in the same plane as that of the front of said standard, and is supported bythe lower end of a threaded stud 21 (Fig. 6), that is adjustable vertically in a tubular sleeve 28, that is itself vertically adjustable in threaded I engagement with a threaded aperture in the top of said standard. Said stud may in addition.

about a pivot pin 36 that extends between the oppositesides of said block and across the intervening space. Said rocking member is provided with a rearwardly projecting extension 31, through which loosely extends a threaded adjusting rod 38, `surrounded by coiled compression springs 39 upon the opposite sides of said extension, and compressed between adjustable nuts 40 and 4I. This adjusting rod extends freely downwardly and is pivotally connected to one end of a lever 42, which oscillates about the fulcrumof a bracket 43 depending from the rear body flange 4. The opposite end of said lever carries an anti-friction roller 43 held by a spring 44 in constant engagement with a cam surface 45 carried by a worm wheel 46, also rotatably carried by the forward vand rear body fianges 4.

Carried by the opposite end portions of and atthe rear of Vsaid machine bodyvare a pair of brackets 41, which rotatably support a countershaft 48, one end of which carries a pulley r43 that is driven by a belt 58 from a pulley 5I. carried bythe drive shaft 5. This countershaft is' providedA with two worms 52 and 53, the first of which meshes with and causes theworm wheel 45 carried by a countershaft 46' to revolve. The

ally attached at 64 to and reciprocates a blankpositioning block 65.

The base of said last-mentioned block is slidably mounted between parallel guides 36, and is normally maintained in rearmost position by means of a spring 61, that extends between it and a `rear portion of the under surface of the -machine body. An upper transversely reduced portion of said block is provided with a front-to-rear extending bore 68, through which extends a bar that passes slidably through a screw plug 10, that closes the outer end of said bore. The outermost free end of said bar is provided with a knob 1| and inwardly is surrounded by a spring 12, that is variably compressed between said plug and a member 13 that slides within said bore.

Closing the inner end of said bore is a blankpositioning head 14, that is provided with rearwardly extending spaced fingers 15, while into the space between said fingers projects the angular end portion 16 of the bar 69, which bar is normally maintained in its innermost position by the spring 12, said bar being connected to said member 13 by a transverse pin 11which extends through and projects from horizontally elongated apertures in the opposite sides of said block 65, toengage a, stop 18 as said block is moved rearwardly beyond a given point, in order thereby to cause vthe angular end portion 16 of the bar 89 to recede from its rearmost position in which it positively ejects a button blank, after the drilling operation has been completed and as the blank-positioning head 14 is moved or withdrawn forwardly by the supporting block 65.

In otherwords, as the block is shifted forwardly, it moves with it the head 14 but not the bar 69, until during such rearward movement of the several parts in unison, and shortly before said block and said head reach their rearmost limit of movement, the pin 11 is released by the stop 18, and it too moves forwardly. By .the bar 69 failing to move forwardly while being pressed rearwardly by the spring 12, as the block begins its forward movement, the angular end portion 15 of said bar positively ejects a drilled blank from the positioning fingers 15.

Beneath the body l, thelcountershaftsts' andA 55 are provided with cams 19 and 80, respectively,

which periodically and in sequence engage the respective brackets 8| and 82, that are secured to the respective mountings83 and 84, upon which the drill head platforms l0 are mounted (Fig. 3),

said brackets being maintained against said cams` r draws after itsdrill has completed its function of drilling into and at least partly through the shank of the blank, the left hand drill is moved into a similar position and is then withdrawn, so as to thereby effect a continuous bore that usually extends diametrically through the shank, the sequence and periodicity in the operation of said drills being controlled by the angular relationship of the cams T9 and 80 upon their respective shafts 55 and 46.

Also carried by the countershaft 46 is a second cam 85, that periodically reciprocates a piston rod 86, which in cooperation with a cylinder 8l causes a sudden jet of air under pressure to pass through a tube 88 and nozzle 89, adjacent to the position of a blank while being drilled and to said positioning lingers, so as to thereby cause the drilled blank to drop from the drilling position, after having been released from said fingers by the angular portion 16 of the reciprocatory rod 69.

A magazine-feeder forms no part of the present invention, but for operating such an adjunct potential actuating means is provided in the form of a sprocket Wheel 90, carried by a short countershaft 9| that also carries a bevel gear 92, that meshes with a bevel gear 93 on the rear end of the countershaft 55, said countershaft 9| being rotatably supported by a bearing 94 secured to the rear of said body In this manner said sprocket wheel, in combination with a similar wheel carried by a suitable form of magazinefeeder, assures absolute synchronism of motion and function between the several elements.

In the operation of this machine, blanks |00 are permitted to fall in spaced sequence between the guides |0I, and when in the loWermost position shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 6 are adapted to have their shanks drilled from opposite directions by the drills 24. Said guides are hingedly mounted at |02 and are normally maintained in operative alignment by springs |03, but are also adjustable towards and away from each other by means of small bolts or screws |04, in order to provide for blank heads of different sizes.

As the two drills continuously revolve, they are alternately actuated into drilling position by means of the cams 19 and 80, the blank just drilled being released by the holding ngers following the completion of the actual drilling operation, by means of the block 65 moving forwardly under the inuence of the cam 51 and lever 59, the exact operative position of said fingers being determined by adjustment of the screw 6 I, release of the drilled blank being effected by Withdrawal of the lower nger 33 to its rearward position, simultaneously with abnormal extension of the upper finger 32 to eiect an arrest of the downward movement of the blank next above.

After the drilled blank has been thus released, the lower of said ngers is again projected forwardly to arrest lthe fall of the next blank, as the upper of said fingers is withdrawn to release it from its temporarily arrested upper position, by means of the mechanism hereinbefore described. The jet of compressed air is provided as an adjunct to insure removal of the drilled blank from the positioning fingers, and at the same time to maintain the parts at that point clear of dust and possibly other foreign particles such as borings, that if permitted to accumulate might jeopardize proper positioning and alignment of the blanks as they enter the drilling position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letter Patent of the United States is:

A machine for drilling button blanks comprising a support, countershaft means disposed longitudinally thereon, driving means for said countershaft means, a pair of transverse shafts on said support below said countershaft means, gearing driving said transverse shafts from said countershaft means in the same direction, slides mounted on said support for adjustment toward and away from each other, columns rising from said slides, approximately aligned drill devices longitudinally and rotatably adjustable on said columns, means to clamp said drill devices in adjusted positions on said columns, means to operate said slides one from each transverse shaft to move one drill device tov/ard the button as the other drill device moves away from the button, and flexible driving connections from said driving means partly movable with said drill devices and slides to compensate for the different adjustments of and to operate said drill devices.

WILLIAM J. WITTE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the nle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 511,364 Shantz Dec. 26, 1893 611,811 Hormby Oct. 4, 1898 974,532 Skipp Nov. 1, 1910 1,089,856 Morrissey Mar. 10, 1914 1,863,737 Witte June 21, 1932 2,313,981 Weber et al Mar. 16, 1943A 2,333,121 Pfeiffer Nov. 2, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 953,130 France May 16. 1949 

